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Panorama

I watched tonight’s Panorama with interest. In it we had a Chief Executive Constable of ACPO stating that we should recognise officers make mistakes which should be taken into account when dealing with complaints. Yet he seeks to state that the former Special Constable, also featured , somehow justified being sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. Former Special PC Lightfoot deals with a drunken buffoon ejected from a nightclub by bouncers who still have to call the police, abuses an ambulance crew preventing them dealing with a collapsed lady, throws another lady’s handbag into the street, who refuses to go home, falls over twice he is that p*ssed and tries to bite the legs of the attending officers. All Mr Lightfoot did was punch him six times using distraction blows to get him to release his arm or did I miss something? Oh and Mr Lightfoot, being a Special was not even being paid for the privilege. Good grief, I have known rapists and GBH assaults by stabbing get less of a sentence.

I also consider it easy for a closeted ACPO ranking official who last saw an angry man on a cctv camera to pick fault with those at the sharp end. I would also be pleasantly surprised if they chose to get their uPSD to investigate rather than prosecute. I would dearly love for the uPSD to not be allowed to consider any rumour, anecdotes, innuendo or reputation. However, for that to happen we would need to have proper and efficient investigators in our uPSD and we all know that in the majority of cases efficiency and uPSD do not go hand in hand. Unless of course, they have decided to sack you, then they are brilliantly efficient.

The main recipients of this summary uPSD justice are the lower ranks, the street cops. Those brave individuals who put themselves in the firing line day in and day out. They have no support from senior management who are just as likely to cold shoulder them when it suits. Woe betide you making a mistake if your face doesn’t fit. Just ask PC Consterdine from the Conspiracy of Bastards post. I felt that the Durham experiment was worthwhile. The member of the public still not happy at the arrest but understanding the reasons behind it. In my force, that would just be a two year prosecution of the officer for a criminal assault where it was a toss up if he was to face a misconduct panel.

I think I would welcome an independent investigative arm to police discipline but one which specific rules of engagement. Their remit would be to investigate and not prosecute. Their purpose would be to not decide guilt or innocence but to report the full facts to a judiciary or panel for them to make a decision. Being independent they would simply investigate the complaint with no ulterior motive or sinister crusade behind them. One thing it cannot be, though, is the IPCC. That bunch of former school teachers, insurance consultants and DWP clerks thrive on salacious and unwarranted headlines designed to promote and publicise themselves rather than a true reflection of the case facts.

Independent enquiry would do away with Noble Cause Corruption, so say I.

8 thoughts on “Panorama”

Lightfoot got what he deserved, violent knobheads like him only work as a Specials so theyget their fix of violence. Regardless of Mark Aspinall’s behaviour, he still needed to be dealt with in a professional manner. The distraction punches aside, the rubbing of his face into the road was unacceptable. Lightfoot clearly knew what he was doing as he was looking around to see if anyone was watching him. We Police have a demanding job to do as it is, without nasty no marks like Lightfoot making us all look bad.

I’d suggest that looking round is necessary for safety when wrestling with a drunken arsehole on astreet with traffic going past. Being aware of the surroundings also stops him being suprised by any friends of the drunk that decide to get involved.

I agree that Lightfoot crossed the line banging/rubbing the guys head off the ground. I think the sentence he got was harsh though for a mistake made in the heat of the moment.

Afraid I disagree pal. Ive worked with Peter and was always impressed with his knowledge of law and procedure etc. I always felt safe in his company as well. Much more so than some regular colleagues I could mention. He was never afraid to get involved and take appropriate action when needed. He’s pulled a lot of bobbies out the shit over the years. I strongly feel that Peter was well and truly shafted by GMP and used as a scapegoat in a case where the phrase “war hero” to describe the victim was used extensively. In light of this, GMP would have been too chicken shit scared to take the side of a special against a “war hero” and effectively threw Peter to the vultures. The “war hero” in question was a piss head who was coked up (allegedly), bladdered, violent, racially abusive (to an asian doorman), causing a nuiscance to a paramedic and abusive to police officers. Quite a list of anti social ingredients (but then again he is a war hero and can do what the f**k he wants). As for the rubbing of his face in the floor, what injuries did he incur as a result of this? Please furnish me with the court details to back this up matey. And you mention “Lightfoot” looking around to see “who was watching”. I suggest you watch the video again and take stock of the fact that they were all in the middle of a main road that runs through Wigan town centre and he kept looking at vehicles that were driving close to him. Your observational skills are questionable to say the least, I bet you ar an absolute star when giving evidence in court. Anyway getting back to this “war hero” fella. Im led to beleive that he drunkenly baited police officers in another local town centre a few months prior to the incident in wigan. But then again as I keep stating, he is a “war hero” (apparently the army labelled him a disgrace) and can do what the f**k he wants. You are probably in awe of Aspinall. Do you have a photo of him on your office desk? Did you know that Peter was due a commendation for disarming an armed shitbag? That got brushed under the carpet pretty sharpish. You refer to Peter as being a knobhead and using the specials as an outlet for him to commit violence. Are not the situations that officers get involved in on weekend nights almost always of a violent nature? Oh and I would not recommend calling him a Knobhead if you ever meet him. He might just shake your hand……. Very Hard!

Well said Ticking Time Bomb. I agree with what you have written so far. However even if I accept what you say, could you please expand on the other part of the conviction regarding the perverting etc.Thanks.

Read it thanks. I didn’t know you were not allowed to view CCTV before writing your statement. Where is that law? I previously worked in a town centre on a shoplifting squad and if the arrest was going to be problematic I would go and collect it first.It was never challenged.

It is not law. It is ACPO policy. The law actually allows you to do it but there is a fine line between providing a statement about what you remember and just writing a transcript of cctv footage. My view is that, if I know there is cctv footage, I make sure that I view the footage after providing a statement and submit a further statement correcting any anomalies.

There is nothing wrong in making a mistake but differences between footage and statements are always taken by defence lawyers to be lies and a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. According to the information provided to me, Mr Lightfoot is guilty of nothing more than failing to remember the footage in the order it actually occured and therefore the order he wrote it in his statement.